United Families of Imagine

Dear friends and family,

Below is a letter that was written by a waiting adoptive mom. It is a form letter that can be cut and pasted to your blogs or websites, if you so wish. Please read it and join the cause:

Dear,

Over 400 Canadian families have had their dreams of adopting a child internationally shattered. Imagine Adoption, a Canadian adoption agency that facilitates international adoptions declared bankruptcy on July 14, 2010. http://www.bdo.ca/extranets/imagineadoption/index.cfm

The families that have been impacted by the bankruptcy of Imagine Adoption have started a petition and are fundraising to demand that the government take action to ensure that every family have the opportunity to complete their adoption and bring their children home.

As a supporter of international adoption, we need your help to spread the word. Please post a link to our blog on your website and send it to all of your contacts. Many voices are stronger than one.

Here is the link to the new blog that our families have created: United Families of Imagine.

You can find the link to the petition and opportunity to donate in the right hand column of the blog

Our hopes of a family are greatly threatened by this turn of events, not to mention the significant financial investment in the adoption process. Many of us were on the verge of being matched with a child at the time of Imagine Adoption's closure.

For many of us, starting another adoption process is financially and emotionally impossible. Signing on with an adoption agency is much like discovering you are pregnant - from that point on you are a parent, expecting and planning for the arrival of your child (children). We have already endured significant emotional and financial hardship dealing with infertility or similar issues. For others, the loss of time spent in the Imagine process means some families are now too old to become adoptive parents. Their dreams of becoming a family have been crushed by the irresponsible mismanagement of this adoption Agency. We do not deserve this.

We believe it is the responsibility of the government, and agency acting on Imagine Adoption's behalf during this time, to do everything in their power to ensure that the adoptions of already contracted families are able to continue.

Thank for your support,

PLEASE sign this petition

Hello all,

If you knew how hard the parents of the children not yet referred are working, you would be in awe!! They are truly warriors!

They have many plans in action to not lose hope. There is much talk of the government stepping in to help the families that have children referred to them already. But it seems that the 300+ families that have not yet received a referral picture of their child/ren are being brushed under the carpet.

This is NOT acceptable!!!! These parents - and YES, they are parents - have paid their money and invested their hearts in waiting for that memorable day when their agency calls and says,

"Are you sitting down? Do you want to see the picture of your baby girl/boy? We have a referral for you!"

For those of you who have not adopted you have no idea how incredible those words are. Nor how amazing it is when you open your email attachments and see your children's beautiful faces for the first time. But trust me, I will always remember that moment when our social worker called me and said, "How is your day going? Do you want your day to get a little better?"

Those parents need to hear our support. They have created petitions and committees to try to fight and fight hard to not be ignored. The more people that get involved the better!!!

PLEASE sign this petition and get everyone you know to sign it also.

If everyone who reads my blog signs this petition that would be at least another 150 signatures! And then send the link on to your family and friends. Last night they had 4000+ signatures. That is not enough. We need more.

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/SaveOurDreamofAdoptingInternatio

PLEASE also take this link and cut and paste it to all of your FACEBOOK pages. This will increase the traffic dramatically. Please, please, make the effort!

I will advise as there are updates. Thank you!
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Shocking News!

For many, what I am about to say is old news. Unfortunately, I was not able to post in a timely manner as I was camping where there was no internet access.

On Monday of this week, our adoption community was shaken to its very core. That was the day that it was confirmed that our adoption agency, Imagine Adoption, had declared bankruptcy.

This is devastating from so many angles. I have friends at all different stages of adoption and they are all panicking and scrambling to try to figure out what they can do to protect their children in Ethiopia.

One friend and her husband are frantically getting shots and arranging travel to go and claim their little boy and girl, even though they have just passed court and do not yet have travel orders; another has lost $17,000 and her dreams of adopting a sibling group, as her family was not yet at the referral stage. She is just one of many people I know that were in the early stages of their adoption and may not be able to complete the process.

There is much speculation as to what has happened to cause the bankruptcy, but nothing has been confirmed yet. We do know that there are 53 infants and children waiting in two Ethiopian Transition Homes, who are at different points of adoptions waiting for final documents to be able to travel home to their Canadian families.

On Tuesday, we had been told that there was only enough food for three days in the Transition House. On Wednesday, we heard that Sue, the director of the now bankrupt agency, had arrived in Ethiopia that day and was buying enough food to keep the 53 children fed for 8 days.

That is not enough!!!! Some of these children are two or more months away from being ready to leave Ethiopia. Not only that, it is not as simple as the parents being able to arrive and take custody of their children.


There is speculation as to the risks involved if the parents do this: on one hand they are being told that they can; on the other hand, they are being advised against doing this. Either way, the children need food right now, and many of the children will need it for the next two months. A lot of money needs to be raised and I pray that you will find it in your hearts to help.

A couple of mums whose children have recently been brought home from Ethiopia, have set up a link on one of their blogs to raise money to send with a travelling family to buy food for the children.

This is the link to the blog where they are raising the money to buy food, baby wipes, diapers, and other essentials that will keep the children afloat until this crisis can be worked through. This is a Paypal account and very safe to transfer money through.

Please spread the message to anyone who might be willing to help. No amount is too small - every penny will help!

The money will be sent through certain families that are travelling right now to pick up their children. These families will be going shopping and stocking the Transition House. Now, obviously, we have no idea what is going on with the rent of this building. Will the children stay there? Or will they go back to their orphanages from where they came? There are so many unanswered questions.

We do know from families that have just returned from Ethiopia, that the Agency van that is used to transport travelling families, has not picked up the last few families from the airport, as there is no fuel for the vehicle. The families have had to fend for themselves.

The Ethiopian staff are doing their best by the children in very difficult circumstances, as it is clear that they love the children dearly. They are not being paid, and they have run to the end of the supplies that keep the Transition House running. Not only that, they too have suddenly had their lives disrupted by losing their jobs and ways of supporting their families!!

These last few days have caused a lot of anxiety for hundreds of families, and people are desperate to get some answers, as noone was personally informed of the bankruptcy before it was announced publically on the Imagine website.

I have heard that the Ethiopian government has stepped in and is trying to get a temporary license to keep the Transition Houses open. We hope and pray that this is true and that they can do this, as this will give the children continuum while final documents are being worked through.

For the families on this side of the world: the ones that need Visas to get their children home - many have contacted their MPs and the Canadian Embassy. I have heard of some that have been told that the Embassy is trying to expedite emergency visas.

Unfortunately, some friends of mine (and many more I don't even know!) are caught in limbo, as their documents have not left the Imagine office, and therefore, have not yet arrived in Nairobi, where they process the visas. These friends think they may have to travel to Ethiopia to track down their original documents and get them to the High Commission in Nairobi by themselves.

The parents that are travelling immediately and do not yet have their Visas, will have to stay in Ethiopia for many weeks and possibly months before they are able to leave the country with their children. Typically, from Court to Travel it can take 2-6 months.

I am so very, very sorry and cannot begin to express my concern and grief for all the people involved in this situation whose hearts have been broken. I just ask that you please pray for these families and all the children involved.

I do have one *very* important thing to say. Our God is the God of the Impossible. I know that and I hope that you will believe that too!!! When I first heard the news of the bankruptcy and listened to my friends' crying in distress over their children, I had a vision. I do not normally have visions. However, that day I did. And I hang onto it.

It was a vision of Moses leading the children out of Egypt. God parted the waters of the Red Sea for Moses. For those that don't know the story: Pharaoh had been persecuting the Hebrews for many years and God had called Moses to lead His people out of Egypt. When they came to the Red Sea, they had nowhere to go: the sea in front and the Egyptian army behind them.

Exodus 14:15

God told them: "Why are you crying out to me? Tell the people to get moving! Use your shepherd's staff - hold it out over the water, and a path will open up before you through the sea. Then all the people of Israel will walk through on dry ground. Yet I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians, and they will follow the Israelites into the sea. Then I will receive great glory at the expense of the Pharaoh and his army; all Egypt will know that I am the Lord."

Moses did as he was told. The seas parted, the Israelites walked through, and the Egyptian army was destroyed. God had saved His people, as He had promised.

Right from the moment I heard about this situation, I had this vision, and I firmly believe that God WILL lead HIS children (Your children) out of Ethiopia!!! Please keep the faith and PRAY and if you have never prayed before, PRAY NOW, and ask God to show His mercy on your children.

We left to go camping on the day that this news hit the world, (Monday). I had a hard time leaving knowing that my friends were all in such unpredictable situations. I knew I couldn't do anytyhing, but my heart was with them and I didn't want to miss a minute on how it was playing out.

Therefore, on Tuesday, we shot home and I made a few calls and got an update. Then last night, I took my children to the circus in town, and then I made a quick trip home after to download all my Canadaadoptsethiopia yahoo groups digests. My goodness!! We usually have 2-4 digests (50-100 messages) a day, but I had over 60 digests from three days! (1500 messages!) I came home to the campsite and sat up til 2:00 am reading the messages and finding out exactly where everything was in the proceedings for all the families.

As I turned out my lights, my mind was racing and there was not shutting it off. I decided to read my Bible for a few minutes before I went to sleep. As I took my Bible, I silently prayed that God would give me a Word for the children in Ethiopia.

I do so believe that God rewards our faith and answers us accordingly. If you don't know about this, go rent the movie, Faith Like Potatoes - it will entertain and so inspire you! I have that kind of faith and I have seen what it can accomplish. I can't imagine living without the hope it gives me!

As I took my Bible, it fell open to Nehemiah 9:9

You saw the affliction of our fathers in Egypt, and heard their cry by the Red Sea. You showed signs and wonders against Pharaoh, against all his servants. For You knew that they acted proudly against them. So You made a name for Yourself, as it is this day.

And you divided the sea before them, so that they went through the midst of the sea on the dry land; and their persecutors You threw into the deep, as a stone into the mighty waters. Moreover, You led them by day with a cloudy pillar, and by night with a pillar of fire, to give them light on the road which they should travel.

I do not believe in coincidences - I believe in God-incidences. I believe that God was confirming that He WILL bring the children out of Ethiopia, as He gave me a vision of the children being led through the Red Sea. YOUR Red Sea is all the RED TAPE that you are going to have to go through to bring your children home to Canada.

God will help you, if you turn to Him and ask Him!! I will be praying for each of you and your families. As as dear, Godly woman said to me, "Don't ask God to bring the children home. Demand it!"

She is right. We know that God loves your children more than you do! Don't ask with trepidation; THANK Him for what He is already doing to bring your children home!!

Also, while we are at it, please, please, let's pray for those dear families that have lost all of their hopes and dreams and financial ability to have their families grow through Ethiopian adoption.

This does not have to be the end for them!! God CAN make a way for the children that are not yet referred that are in the Transition Houses to STAY there and be referred to waiting families.

If these children do not get referred, they will be sent back to their orphanages and the waiting families will lose the children that were available for adoption. One of these families has been waiting for *nineteen months* for the siblings that they are requesting!! Others are days or weeks away from an infant referral, with their files having been in Ethiopia for 12-13 months. That is too long a wait and too close to the end to have to start over!

Please pray that the Canadian government will step in and help. We have heard it stated that Stephen Harper is concerned about the declining birth rate in Canada, and is therefore, opening up immigration to bring more people into Canada.

It is quite reasonable to think that he might be interested in getting involved, due to the fact that it was an Ontario licenses adoption agency that has caused this situation to happen, and there *are* future Canadian children that are in jeopardy.


How do I end a post like this? There is so much more to say. My heart is breaking, the tears are near, and I cannot imagine the terror, panick, and anguish these parents are feeling. As I listen to what is happening, I am so thankful that our girls are home.

All I can say is please be praying for the families and children and Ethiopian staff that are caught up in this crisis. Put it on your Prayer Chains, ask your friends and families, your churchs - to pray. Thank you!

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